Most yo-yo,s are not designed to catch big cats,they are just to light weight. However for channels they are great.I like to use them in small rivers or even better small creeks. I just tie them to an over hanging limb and set the bait about 1" under the water.If you can find a good flexible limb you don't even need a YO-YO,I only use them on bigger limbs.They can be used around boat docks but I had to many people taking them home.Also if you use live bait you might be suprised how many different kinds of fish you can catch.LOL "only my opinion".

Also with the yo-yo's you can put reflective tape on both sides and when your checking them you can see them a long way off. Another thing you can do with them is, the yo-yo's have a clip on the line so you can attach a hook, but what I do is attach a piece of black dacron fishing line(35 lb. line) as a leader and I use 2/0 kahle hooks. That is so when your checking them and you see the white line in the water they are still set and when they are set off you see the black with a flashlight you need to reset them. It makes it easier for me and the leader takes the abuse instead of the main line and if you attach the hook to the clip it will tear up the line and the yo-yo is no good. The last thing I do is put a clip on the line that holds up the yo-yo, just wrap it around the tree or branch and clip it and go. Just makes it easier to collect them later. As far as setting them I try to split the water, so to speak, if the water is 4 feet I set it at 2 ft.. I try to keep in 5 feet or less water. You can use just about anything for bait, I use nightcrawlers, shrimp, liver, and even was given the nightcrawler links from Bill Dance and caught some with that. Hope this helps. BTW check your local laws about them. Here in Ohio you have to have your name on every one.